


Remedy

by Dragon_Lord



Series: High School AU [4]
Category: Zoo (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Finally, High School AU, Pre-Relationship, canon sadness, it's the October fic, you know the one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-03 03:23:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8694451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Lord/pseuds/Dragon_Lord
Summary: It was a blustery morning last October when he'd found her, hunkered down against the brick wall behind the cafeteria. Sobbing, arms tight around her middle like she couldn't breathe.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Look, I'm still alive! Sorry, this semester's been crazy busy. Pray for me during finals week!

_October – Junior Year_

She couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t speak.

Couldn’t think.

In her numb state, all that Jamie registered was how cold everything was. The texture of the brick wall scratched at the skin of her back through her thin sweater. She brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them close, desperate for some semblance of warmth while the tears on her cheeks grew cold as soon as they fell.

On the concrete next to her, her phone pinged again. She didn’t look. It was Mitch, she knew. He was worried about her, wondering where she’d disappeared to after lunch. But Jamie really didn’t want to talk to anyone. Not now.

Her heart stuttered painfully upon remembering the phone call that had left her in this state. The barely-concealed pain in her mother’s voice as she spoke, trying so hard to be strong for her daughter. And those same three words echoed in Jamie’s head again and again:

Acute myeloid leukemia.

Cancer.

Her fight or flight instincts had kicked in seconds later and, no surprise, flight won. Now, she couldn’t even remember if she’d ended the call before bolting to the outside wall of the cafeteria, cold as it was in the frigid air.

A brisk October gust brushed Jamie’s hair against her face, sticking it to her wet cheeks. She impatiently pushed it away, letting out a quiet sob into her hands as the full weight of the situation began to press on her.

Her mother was dying. The only family she and her brother had left. After all, their father had abandoned them years ago, when Jamie was just eleven years old.

They’d all learned to fend for themselves after that. Mrs. Campbell took on extra shifts to bring in more money, Jamie made sure Lucas got his lunch packed every morning and made it to the bus on time. Even Lucas himself, eight years old at the time, started washing the dishes every night to help out.

But now they were going to lose another parent. God, it just wasn’t fair!

Heavy footsteps sounded around the corner, nearing her, and Jamie curled into herself, arms tight around her stomach, keeping her eyes down.

A pair of feet stopped in front of her, in beat-up, black high-tops. Mitch.

Jamie sniffed, didn’t look up. It wasn’t like he’d never seen her cry before. But failing a math test and learning that your mom has cancer are two very different things.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him sit next to her, mirroring her own pose: leaning against the brick wall, knees up. He didn’t say anything, didn’t need to. Jamie knew he was bad at comforting people.

The warmth of his arm across her shoulders startled her and she turned to look at him. He watched her carefully, clearly uncomfortable but not uncaring and Jamie could feel fresh, grateful tears welling up behind her eyes. She squeezed them shut tight and let her head fall against his chest with a whimper.

Mitch immediately pulled her close as she cried.

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, Jamie soaking Mitch’s shirt with her tears and him saying nothing, awkwardly comforting her in the only way he knew how. She finally quieted down to a few sniffles but didn’t pull away.

“Sorry,” she muttered against soft cotton. Her voice was hoarse and she cleared her throat. “I think I just ruined your shirt.”

He just shook his head in dismissal before quietly saying, “Want me to take you home?”

Wiping her nose with her sweater sleeve, Jamie sat up to look at him questioningly. “Don’t you have class?”

“I was gonna skip anyway,” Mitch shrugged, rising. Warm hand grasping hers as he pulled her up with him and started to lead her towards the parking lot. “C’mon, let’s go.”

She didn’t resist and leaned into him as they walked, shivering. He didn’t ask what was wrong or why she was crying but kept an arm around her as if to shield her from the cold autumn air. Jamie’s heart swelled in affection for her best friend and, a few yards away from his car, she grasped his arm to stop him. Ignored his questioning look and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I love you,” she whispered into his shoulder. Mitch stiffened for a second before clearing his throat.

“I, uh,” he stammered, “I love you, too.”

The moment passed and the teens doubled their pace to the car, eager to get out of the cold. Safely buckled in the passenger seat, Jamie took a few deep, calming breaths.

It was going to be okay, it had to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Awahili for the prompt!  
> Title loosely inspired by the Adele song.  
> Also, I know I’m going down such a cliché route with the whole “guy pines away for girl for years before she notices him” plotline but I LIKE IT, OKAY. MAKE A PRETTY IN PINK REFERENCE. GO AHEAD, I DARE YOU.
> 
> As always, please review and let me know how I did! And feel free to shoot some more HS prompts my way.


End file.
